Partnerships for sustainability
Our partnerships and our social and environmental commitment
Sofidel believes in dialogue and in the creation of virtuous forms of multi-stakeholder collaboration between businesses, governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), society and citizens in order to pursue sustainable development. For this reason, the Group is committed to promoting and developing partnerships at multiple levels and on various fields of action with partners of recognised value and credibility. The sustainable development agenda requires partnerships and inclusive collaborations built on principles and values – on a common vision and shared objectives – at global, regional, national and local levels. Sofidel Group’s partners include:
Sofidel has been working alongside WWF for over ten years. In these years of partnership, both in Italy and internationally, the environmental organisation has supported the Group in developing an organic and systematic approach, contributing to the creation of an open, positive and responsible vision of the future.
This cooperation has taken many forms (energy, forests, education, …). At the start, in 2009, participation in the WWF Climate Savers international programme, which brings together companies voluntarily committed to reducing climate-altering emissions (“low carbon economy”). In particular, the Group committed itself to supporting the transition to an economic system that can:
deliver a long-term vision that considers our Planet a common home and a
place to achieve equitable and sustainable well-being;
recognise the central role of natural capital;
introduce production processes that imitate nature’s circular processes.
Global Compact
The United Nations (UN) Global Compact is one of the most important sustainability initiatives in the world, which the Sofidel Group has joined as a “Participating Member”. Companies, institutions, business representatives and civil society organisations committed to building a more sustainable and inclusive economy, are part of the Global Compact.
Membership requires companies to embrace, support and implement, in their strategy and within their sphere of influence, a set of core values identified by the so-called Ten Principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption standards. The companies also take responsibility for reporting annually to their stakeholders on progress achieved in these areas.
Moreover, Sofidel is a “Promoting Founder” member of the Global Compact Network Italy Foundation (GCNI Foundation). The Group is active, within the Foundation, with various “sustainability pathways” together with the other member companies. In 2014, Sofidel also joined as a “Corporate Partner” the “TenP – Sustainable Supply Chain Self-Assessment Platform” developed by the GCNI Foundation. The aim is to assess the sustainability performance of supplier companies, with the aim of identifying common challenges and solutions to improve sustainability within the Group’s supply chain. In 2021, Sofidel integrated the self-assessment platform, renamed “TenP Paper”, in SAP Ariba.
In 2016, Sofidel established an annual award for its most sustainable suppliers, the 3SAward (“Sofidel Suppliers Sustainability Award”).
Luigi Lazzareschi, Sofidel CEO, has signed – together with over 1,000 CEOs from more than 100 countries worldwide – the United Nations Global Compact “Statement from Business Leaders for Renewed Global Cooperation” demonstrating his support for the United Nations and inclusive multilateralism. On September 21, 2020, the Statement of support was presented by the UN Global Compact CEO & Executive Director to the UN Secretary-General to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. On the occasion of the 2020 “Business & SDGs High-Level Meeting” event, organized by the Global Compact Network Italia, Sofidel’s CEO has signed the “Women’s Empowerment Principles” (WEPs), demonstrating his attention to the issue of gender equality and his support for the values set forth in these principles.
TOGETHER WE PLANT THE FUTURE
Sofidel and Suzano, the world’s largest producer of hardwood pulp, join forces promoting “Together we plant the future – Developing biodiversity corridors towards a more sustainable future”, a landmark three-year pilot project which will advance ecological conservation and restoration, alongside supporting socio-economic development in the Amazon region in Brazil. This will be delivered with support and on-the-ground implementation from IABS, the Brazilian Institute for Development and Sustainability and Amazônia Onlus, an Italian non-profit active to defend the forest and the people of the Amazon.
Through the partnership, Sofidel’s investment will scale up sustainable business models that can be adopted by communities living alongside the rainforest, at the same time as improving their food security and nutritional quality. In the first phase, this will help lift about 1,400 family farmers out of poverty through income-generation projects, including increasing agricultural productivity, beekeeping, and the cultivation and commercialization of native species such as açaí berries and babassu coconuts.
Alongside this, ”Together we plant the future” will fund the creation of an important biodiversity corridor to promote connectivity within a 2,210 square kms area of high ecological value rainforest, straddling the border between the Brazilian states of Maranhão and Pará.
EU-OSHA
Sofidel is official partner of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). The Agency is involved in awareness, information and prevention campaigns and carries out research activities. The Agency works to make European workplaces safer, healthier and more productive, for the benefit of businesses, employees and governments, and promotes a culture of risk prevention to improve working conditions in Europe.
In 2023, Sofidel joined the biennial campaign “Safe and healthy work in the digital age 2023-2025”. This new edition of the “Healthy Workplaces Campaign” aims to increase knowledge about the importance of occupational safety and health in the digital era and to help ensure that a human-centred approach to digitalisation in the workplace is implemented.
Sodalitas Foundation
Sofidel cooperates with Sodalitas, one of the main Italian companies engaged in the promotion of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The Foundation promotes the development of initiatives carried out in co-planning and collaboration between businesses and the most relevant stakeholders.
Telethon Foundation
Through the Nicky brand, since 2012 Sofidel has been actively supporting various projects of the Telethon Foundation, an Italian non-governmental organisation (NGO) working to collect funds for research on muscular dystrophy and other rare genetic diseases.
Woodland Trust
Through the Nicky brand, Sofidel cooperates with the UK’s woodland preservation organisation supporting environmental education and tree-planting projects.
Giuseppe Lazzareschi Foundation
The Foundation bears the name of Giuseppe Lazzareschi, who founded the Sofidel Group together with Emi Stefani. The Foundation promotes social and environmental sustainability values in Lucca, Italy (where Sofidel was established) through cultural activities and events.